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The immunologically distinct O antigens from Francisella tularensis subspecies tularensis and Francisella novicida are both virulence determinants and protective antigens.

ABSTRACT: We have determined the sequence of the gene cluster encoding the O antigen in Francisella novicida and compared it to the previously reported O-antigen cluster in Francisella tularensis subsp. tularensis. Immunization with purified lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from F. tularensis subsp. tularensis or F. novicida protected against challenge with Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica and F. novicida, respectively. The LPS from F. tularensis subsp. tularensis did not confer protection against challenge with F. novicida, and the LPS from F. novicida did not confer protection against challenge with F. tularensis subsp. holarctica. Allelic replacement mutants of F. tularensis subsp. tularensis or F. novicida which failed to produce O antigen were attenuated, but exposure to these mutants did not induce a protective immune response. The O antigen of F. tularensis subsp. tularensis appeared to be important for intracellular survival whereas the O antigen of F. novicida appeared to be critical for serum resistance and less important for intracellular survival.

SUBMITTER: Thomas RM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1828428 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The immunologically distinct O antigens from Francisella tularensis subspecies tularensis and Francisella novicida are both virulence determinants and protective antigens.

Thomas Rebecca M RM Titball Richard W RW Oyston Petra C F PC Griffin Kate K Waters Emma E Hitchen Paul G PG Michell Stephen L SL Grice I Darren ID Wilson Jennifer C JC Prior Joann L JL

Infection and immunity 20061030 1

We have determined the sequence of the gene cluster encoding the O antigen in Francisella novicida and compared it to the previously reported O-antigen cluster in Francisella tularensis subsp. tularensis. Immunization with purified lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from F. tularensis subsp. tularensis or F. novicida protected against challenge with Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica and F. novicida, respectively. The LPS from F. tularensis subsp. tularensis did not confer protection against challen ...[more]

PMID: 17074846

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Project description:Francisella tularensis is an intracellular pathogen for many animals causing the infectious disease, tularemia. Whereas F. tularensis subsp. holarctica is highly pathogenic for humans, F. novicida is almost avirulent for humans, but virulent for mice. In order to compare metabolic fluxes between these strains, we performed 13C-labeling experiments with F. tularensis subsp. holarctica wild type (beaver isolate), F. tularensis subsp. holarctica strain LVS, or F. novicida strain U112 in complex media containing either [U-13C6]glucose, [1,2-13C2]glucose, [U-13C3]serine, or [U-13C3]glycerol. GC/MS-based isotopolog profiling of amino acids, polysaccharide-derived glucose, free fructose, amino sugars derived from the cell wall, fatty acids, 3-hydroxybutyrate, lactate, succinate and malate revealed uptake and metabolic usage of all tracers under the experimental conditions with glucose being the major carbon source for all strains under study. The labeling patterns of the F. tularensis subsp. holarctica wild type were highly similar to those of the LVS strain, but showed remarkable differences to the labeling profiles of the metabolites from the F. novicida strain. Glucose was directly used for polysaccharide and cell wall biosynthesis with higher rates in F. tularensis subsp. holarctica or metabolized, with higher rates in F. novicida, via glycolysis and the non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). Catabolic turnover of glucose via gluconeogenesis was also observed. In all strains, Ala was mainly synthesized from pyruvate, although no pathway from pyruvate to Ala is annotated in the genomes of F. tularensis and F. novicida. Glycerol efficiently served as a gluconeogenetic substrate in F. novicida, but only less in the F. tularensis subsp. holarctica strains. In any of the studied strains, serine did not serve as a major substrate and was not significantly used for gluconeogenesis under the experimental conditions. Rather, it was only utilized, at low rates, in downstream metabolic processes, e.g., via acetyl-CoA in the citrate cycle and for fatty acid biosynthesis, especially in the F. tularensis subsp. holarctica strains. In summary, the data reflect differential metabolite fluxes in F. tularensis subsp. holarctica and F. novicida suggesting that the different utilization of substrates could be related to host specificity and virulence of Francisella.

Project description:Francisella tularensis is composed of a number of subspecies with varied geographic distribution, host ranges, and virulence. In view of these marked differences, comparative functional genomics may elucidate some of the molecular mechanism(s) behind these differences. In this study a shared probe microarray was designed that could be used to compare the transcriptomes of Francisella tularensis subsp. tularensis Schu S4 (Ftt), Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica OR960246 (Fth), Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica LVS (LVS), and Francisella novicida U112 (Fn). To gain insight into expression differences that may be related to the differences in virulence of these subspecies, transcriptomes were measured from each strain grown in vitro under identical conditions, utilizing a shared probe microarray. The human avirulent Fn strain exhibited high levels of transcription of genes involved in general metabolism, which are pseudogenes in the human virulent Ftt and Fth strains, consistent with the process of genome decay in the virulent strains. Genes encoding an efflux system (emrA2 cluster of genes), siderophore (fsl operon), acid phosphatase, LPS synthesis, polyamine synthesis, and citrulline ureidase were all highly expressed in Ftt when compared to Fn, suggesting that some of these may contribute to the relative high virulence of Ftt. Genes expressed at a higher level in Ftt when compared to the relatively less virulent Fth included genes encoding isochorismatases, cholylglycine hydrolase, polyamine synthesis, citrulline ureidase, Type IV pilus subunit, and the Francisella Pathogenicity Island protein PdpD. Fth and LVS had very few expression differences, consistent with the derivation of LVS from Fth. This study demonstrated that a shared probe microarray designed to detect transcripts in multiple species/subspecies of Francisella enabled comparative transcriptional analyses that may highlight critical differences that underlie the relative pathogenesis of these strains for humans. This strategy could be extended to other closely-related bacterial species for inter-strain and inter-species analyses.

Project description:The highly infectious bacterium Francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular pathogen, whose virulence requires proliferation inside host cells, including macrophages. Although some Francisella determinants of intracellular growth have been identified, much remains to be understood about the pathogenesis of this organism. In particular, how Francisella responds to its intracellular environment could provide clues about its intracellular biology and reveal pathogenic determinants based on their intracellular expression profiles. Here we have performed a global transcriptional profiling of the highly virulent F. tularensis subsp. tularensis Schu S4 strain during its intracellular cycle within primary murine macrophages. Phagocytosed bacteria rapidly responded to their intracellular environment and progressively altered their transcriptional profile over time. Differential gene expression profiles were revealed that correlated with specific intracellular locations of the bacteria. Upregulation of general and oxidative stress response genes was a hallmark of the early phagosomal and late endosomal stages, while induction of a subset of transport and metabolic genes characterized the cytosolic replication stages. Expression of the Francisella Pathogenicity Island (FPI) genes, the functions of which are associated with intracellular proliferation, increased during the intracellular cycle. Similarly, 27 chromosomal loci putatively encoding hypothetical, secreted, outer membrane proteins or transcriptional regulators were identified as upregulated during the intracellular cycle. In-frame deletion of FTT0383, the Schu S4 ortholog of fevR, of FTT0369c or FTT1676 abolished the ability of Schu S4 to either survive or proliferate intracellularly, demonstrating that bacterial factors of intracellular pathogenesis can be identified based on their intracellular expression profile. In conclusion, establishing the intracellular transcriptome of Francisella has revealed important aspects of its intracellular biology and identified novel virulence determinants of this pathogen. Keywords: Time series

Dataset Information

The immunologically distinct O antigens from Francisella tularensis subspecies tularensis and Francisella novicida are both virulence determinants and protective antigens.

Publications

The immunologically distinct O antigens from Francisella tularensis subspecies tularensis and Francisella novicida are both virulence determinants and protective antigens.

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